don't sign nothing

[Soup]

Here are some interesting uses and sources for don't say nothing.

... [Italian] Non dire niente!, meaning Don't say anything!, but literally closer to Don't say nothing!

Grammar: A Student's Guide - Google Book Search (p136)

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24. Which sentence is written in Standard English?

a. Cecilia hasn’t no extra time this term.
b. Holly will not show Cami none of her sketches.
c. We didn’t tell Grant anything about the surprise.
d. Don’t say nothing about the dance to Martin.

GrammarUsage201-210

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From London Tests of English

DON’T say nothing or very little. Examiners can’t give marks to candidates who don’t speak.

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From the movie Bambi:

Thumper: He doesn't walk very good, does he?
Mrs. Rabbit: Thumper!
Thumper: Yes, mama?
Mrs. Rabbit: What did your father tell you this morning?
Thumper: [clears throat] If you can't say something nice... don't say nothing at all.

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"... it makes elegant reading but it don't say nothing ..." Sinclair Lewis Babbitt (1922)

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of ... - Google Book Search

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Why do folk just come on to correct other peoples grammar? ... If you don't know what you are taling about - don't say nothing at all! ...
BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog - 116k -

PLEASE, readers... all I ask is that you do a SPELL / GRAMMAR CHECK next time ..... to "If you haven't got something nice to say, don't say nothing at all". ...
EP Review: A Thousand Cures - 100k

... And be sensitive with them like don't say nothing stupid or nothing. ...
How to approach a girl you don't kniow -

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There is nothing wrong with simple and colloquial speech. The ear is a good judge of language. It doesn't like ugly sounds; it shuns needless complexity; it invites directness. We should, I think, be forced to listen to everything we write.

WORD & MEANING: Making words mean something again. By Sam Smith.

[stuartnz]

Here are some interesting uses and sources for don't say nothing.

... [Italian] Non dire niente!, meaning Don't say anything!, but literally closer to Don't say nothing!

Grammar: A Student's Guide - Google Book Search (p136)

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Interesting links, thanks. I came across another example of mathematical usage being used a yardstick for linguistic usage today. It seems that to mathematicians, a labyrinth is not a maze. What seems relevant about this in connexion with the "double negative = positive" mantra is the apparent assumption that maths should be the yardstick by which language is measured and the source of the rules by which language is governed. Interesting.

[e2e4]

Stuart NZ, after I followed the link, you had posted in your third last post, I pushed the thank button because, in the link, I found the sentence which Mrs. Maggie Scott quoted from a Bob Dillan's song

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

How do I see it?

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm. No more!
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm; no more.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm, no more.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

From some other song

....No fool, no more.

For me, the form and the sense are the same.

No more is the confirmation of the negation expresed in the first part of the setnence.

But it doesn't sound the same as the double negation in the elliptical sentences such this one

Don't say nothing.

This kind of the ellipticals are too short that so called double negation would work properly in it.

So, as a learner from Bosnia and after studied this matter for a while, I say this

Try to avoid the double negation in some kind of the very short ellipticals and all will be all right.



I am serious this time.

[stuartnz]

This kind of the ellipticals are too short that so called double negation would work properly in it.

So, as a learner from Bosnia and after studied this matter for a while, I say this

Try to avoid the double negation in some kind of the very short ellipticals and all will be all right.



I am serious this time.

I am not sure that I understand this, but I wonder if I could trouble you to use a different colour for your writing? That teal is quite hard to see, at least on my screen.

[Soup]

What seems relevant about this in connexion with the "double negative = positive" mantra ...

Could you point out where you see that? (From what I can tell, the posters seem to be discussing definitions, not the language of math.)

[stuartnz]

Could you point out where you see that? (From what I can tell, the poster are talking about definitions, not math.)

It was the quote from the Wiki article:

The term labyrinth is often used interchangeably with maze, but modern scholars of the subject use a stricter definition. For them, a maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single Eulerian path to the center. A labyrinth has an unambiguous through-route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.

I read that as assuming the primacy of a mathematical definition over one developed through ordinary language use, and saw that as similar to the notion that because in maths "double negative=positive" it must be so in language too. It is getting late on Sunday evening here, so if my neuron is not firing on both cylinders, it's probably time for me to let it rest.

[Soup]

It was the quote from the Wiki article:


I read that as assuming the primacy of a mathematical definition over one developed through ordinary language use, and saw that as similar to the notion that because in maths "double negative=positive" it must be so in language too. It is getting late on Sunday evening here, so if my neuron is not firing on both cylinders, it's probably time for me to let it rest.

OK.

If it helps at all, the last time that I took math, two negatives produce a positive.

[RonBee]

don't sign nothing
You ain't got nothing to lose.

Those are typical American slang, aren't they?

Yes. And "nothing" is typically pronounced without the "g" ending.

[stuartnz]

OK.

If it helps at all, the last time that I took math, two negatives produce a positive.

Yes, and that seems to lie at the crux of the matter for those who wax wroth at double negatives in English language. It is that way in maths, but that doesn't mean it must be that way in language. Many who insist that "double negative = positive" argue that it is the "logical" meaning, and point to its validity in mathematics as "proof" that it must be applied in language too.

[e2e4]

I am not sure that I understand this,

It is because of my poor English which is not easy to understand.
It's also for I am from Bosnia and you are from a strategic geopolitical Aotearoa region.

but I wonder if I could trouble you to use a different colour for your writing? That teal is quite hard to see, at least on my screen.

In relation with my last post

I ain't gona work on Maggie's farm, no more.
No fool, no more.
Don't talk nothing.
Stop talking.

I didn't mean you should stop talking.

In addition

You ain't got nothing to loose.
You ain't got a thing to loose. (this would be my way)

a thing in such case replace nothing and mean the same actually, I think.
The double negation is there, but hidden. (I'm sure this can't be understood too )

Finally
I ain't got any time to waste.